4.29.2004

innovative (north) american poets (I am in the process of reviewing Diane Glancy's new book of poems):

Cedar Sigo (Suquamish)
James Thomas Stevens (Akwesasne Mohawk)
Gerald Vizenor (Chippewa/Anishinabe) (Although he's better known as a
novelist, he does write poetry, namely haiku, and in my estimation is one of
the most innovative writers in any genre)
Elizabeth Treadwell (Cherokee?)

James Thomas Stevens, Diance Glancy, Gerald Vizenor and Reid Gomez

Cedar Sigo (SF via Snoquamish tribe of Washington)

Cedar Sigo here in SF, he is a member of the Squamish tribe, he is the "Indian John Wieners."

Diane Glancy and Simon Ortiz are considered innovative.
Paula Gunn Allen
If you want to venture into the visual arts world, the language-based
works of Edgar Heap-of-Birds are fascinating.
Simon Ortiz, and all the things Joy Harjo does with her sax

Besmilr Brigham, of Chocktaw heritage? I believe she considered herself a Mississippi poet but lived for many years in Arkansas. She's anthologized in _Visit Teepee Town_. After C.D. Wright took up the cause of making her work more widely available, Lost Roads published _Run Through Rock: Selected Short Poems of Besmilr Brigham_.